You might be feeling a little down about the state of politics in the US. The gridlock, political bickering, and overbearing control corporations and the rich have on this country are probably rightfully causing frustration and perhaps despair. But before you decide voting just doesn’t matter, please consider these facts that I’ll present in a series over the coming days:

Taxing The Rich Versus Taxing The Poor
The Republican argument for the US tax code is that tax breaks should go to the rich because they are job creators. While it may be true that people that own and run businesses hire employees, they are NOT job creators. They create products or provide services and that is their product. The number of employees they hire is determined by the supply and demand of their products or services. If there is more demand for their product or service (and that product or service is profitable), they will hire more workers. Therefore, it’s pretty illogical to say that cutting taxes on the rich is going to create jobs.

Democrats, on the other hand, fight for a progressive tax code that taxes the rich more heavily. Why? There are several reasons. The most common is that they can afford it. While true, this misses the point. Those that earn the most have benefited most from infrastructure and services. And they tend to use those services and that infrastructure the most, too. I know I use the roads more than someone who makes far less and cannot afford a car (or the fuel to drive more than absolutely necessary). All the raw materials that are delivered to a business rely on transportation infrastructure to get the product to the factory. Business owners also require workers with at least some level of education. Finally, when those at the lower end of the income spectrum are given a tax break, you can count on them spending very close to 100% of that money and thus putting it right back into the economy.

This isn’t punishment of the rich. It is simply asking the rich to pay a higher percentage since they benefit more and “use” more.

So Republicans argue that taxes on the rich should be reduced while Democrats argue that the rich should pay higher taxes. Your vote matters!